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Several social psychologists try to explain the science behind revenge.

For example, Ian McKee of Adelaide University in Australia writes in Social Justice Research (Vol. 138, No. 2), linking vengeful tendencies primarily with two social attitudes: right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance.

Popular social psychologist Dan Arieli in The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home (New York: Harper Collins, 2010) suggests that revenge has a biological basis and feels pleasurable.

$\begingroup$@David_Springfield Thanks for your updates, I've retracted my close vote because you've made some effort to situate your question in existing research, although I do still think you could use a bit more focus. "I am looking for new research explaining this topic" is still a broad rather than specific question, especially paired with your use of the word "why" in the title. "Why" is often a tricky question to ask because there are so many possible levels of explanation of analysis (for example, evolutionary vs. motivational vs. biomolecular).$\endgroup$
– Bryan KrauseMay 10 '19 at 15:34

A desire for retribution does not require rationalization. "A victim wants to see an assailant punished not only for reasons of pragmatic deterrence but also as a means to repairing a damaged sense of civic order and personal identity. Deterrence and retribution are hardly identical, but the former invariably involves an element of the latter.

Specifically, we found that a threat to national identity (the 7/7/2005 London bombings) led to greater aggression and greater support for revenge when national rather than gender identity was salient. In contrast, a threat to gender identity (Taliban misogyny) led to greater aggression and greater support for revenge when gender rather than national identity was salient.